The opener of the latest season scored the biggest ever overnight audience for the network operated by Sky, in which 21st Century Fox owns a 39 percent stake.

Monday night’s season opener drew 1.57 million live viewers, a 6.7 percent share of the overall audience, according to the BBC. The figures enabled Sky Atlantic, part of Sky, in which Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox owns a 39 percent stake, to beat free-to-air terrestrial channels BBC Two and Channel 5 in the same time slot.

The Game of Thrones premiere audience was also up 29 percent from the season four launch last year and was Sky Atlantic’s best overnight audience to date.